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Your Weekly KYCombinator Digest - Happy New Year
2025 will be different
Dan Ross-Li
January 05, 2025
Hello Fellow Pioneers!
Happy New Year. We’re going to make a difference.
2025 Outlook
I recently listened to the Founder’s Podcast and the bonus episode of Chung Ju-Yung, Founder of Hyundai. The story was inspirational. The story of post-war Korea and struggling against more advanced economies reminds me of what Kentucky feels relative to the rest of the US. The podcast was so good, I purchased the book. The book is 300 pages of resilience and tenacity. Here’s an excerpt
“South Korea had no resources that would help us catch up to advanced nations. We only had the strengths and determination of our people…With sheer force of will, we made it. Hyundai is living testimony of what hard work can do…
We weren’t in a position to shake up what was an established industry dominated by manufacturers in developed countries. but there were markets throughout the world where we could gain a foothold through hard work. I believed we could do it.
I knew this because we had, and still have, the most powerful weapon in the world: the most tenacious and resilient workers. In the past, the Korean people blamed themselves for their poverty and hardship. this was self-defeating. And it was wrong. There are no people greater than us.”
What is KYCombinator?
As Ben Horowitz writes in Hard Things about Hard Things, “There are no silver bullets. Only lead bullets.” We spend too much time deliberating on a silver bullet. At KYCombinator, we’re firing a lot of lead bullets. We’ll be wrong a lot, but we’ll also be right a lot.
KYCombinator is a community that wants to go somewhere, to do something. Let stop making excuses, searching for silver bullets, or concern ourselves with failure. We must not content ourselves with just subsistence. We must struggle through hardship to the promise of a better future. There is only one way forward, paved with hard work and a fanatical belief that we can succeed.
Welcome to 2025.
We’re going to make a difference.
Events
Checkout other events here. Submit your event here.
The film premier of Hazard is Friday Jan 10th, 6:15pm @ Baxter Avenue Theatre. Hazard is a homegrown Kentucky film about Kentucky. (tickets here)
A young man faces hard life choices and tragedies as he attempts to break the cycle of addiction tearing his family apart.
Venture Connectors - Weds, Jan 8th, 11:30am @ Kentucky Science Center
Premier of Hazard [Movie IMDB] (tickets here) - Fri, Jan 10th, 6:15pm red carpet, 6:45pm showtime @ Baxter Avenue Theatre ← this is an awesome event
FIRE AND ICE NETWORKING - Sat, Jan 11th, 10am @ Story
KY Inno Startups to Watch - Tues, Jan 28th, 4:30 @ IceHouse
Poker Night - Thurs, Jan 30th, 5pm @ Story
HackKentucky - Fri, Feb 21st, 4pm @ Story
AI Corner
Recently Otavio Menezes showed me an AI customer service demo. It was incredible. Check out this thoughts.
“Everyone hates talking to customer service. If you’ve ever tried to cancel Spectrum/Time Warner/Xfinity you know how heinous this can be. Probably top 5 worst experiences with a business you can have. But imagine a world where the customer service agent is no-nonsense. They stay calm and collected no matter how many people yell at them that day. They know how to resolve any problem and can even action the solution.
Sure, you can hire a gem of an employee. But these are rare in the customer service world.
What if I told you that AI voice agents are good enough today to be that all-star employee? You have the infinite leverage of technology without the downsides of labor.
Check out this demo from Air AI. It’s kind of shocking how good this is. Sure, it’s a demo that’s likely in ideal conditions. But you have to remind yourself that this is the worst this tech will ever be. A year from now, I predict AI phone service to be the default. Anyone not using these tools will fall behind. That may scare you. AI is coming for your jobs. And it should scare you.
But the world is changing, and the market will do what is best for businesses and consumers. This is a good thing. This yields progress. And once everyone gets used to AI customer service, consumers will likely crave human service again. This will be a luxury. The rock-star customer service reps will be okay. The market should reward them handsomely. They just need to find new framing.
The world is not going to wait for you. Those resistant to change will simply be left behind. I know you're probably tired of hearing about AI all the time. But we really are living in the future. Enjoy it while you can.” — Otavio Menezes, Founder of Azuli Studio (AI automation agency)
You can email Otavio here.
HackKentucky Is ON! Feb 21st, 2025
48 hours of intensity! We already have a guaranteed prize, 2 bounties and 10+ speakers…and we’re just getting started!
For more info check out this sweet site: www.hackkentucky.com
Register here
We’re continuously accepting sponsors, problems and mentors; and we need your help spreading the 🔥!
Sponsor opportunities include:
Submit a problem for hackers to work on.
Sponsor some swag (t-shirts)
Sponsor a meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner)
Sponsor the 10:10pm 10-minute party (??curious??)
Deep Work Enclave
Our solution to brain drain and unicorns.